Hospital-mattress.



S L. GUSSARD. VHQSPITALI mm'mrsssn APPLICATION FILE!) DEC. 1' I916.

"Pammed May 6, 1919.

biwaaamw PATN i SARAH L. GOSSARD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HosPiTAL-MATrnEss.

Specification of Iiett'ers Patent.

Patented May d, rare.

Application filed December 14, 1916. Serial No. 186,851.

To all whom it may concern Be it known thatI, SARAH L. Gossann, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chr- V cago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new andusefulImprovements in HospitaLMattresses, of

which the followincr is a specification.

My invention relates particularly tomattressesfor use in hospitals orsimilar institutions, although it may be employed, if desired, inprivate homes on beds occupied by invali'ds or eonvalescents in general.

Certain classes of patients, such as obstetrical cases and where majoroperations have been performed, require to be maintained in anabsolutely immovable position for considerable periods, often severaldays, after an operation. Such immobility of the patient is necessary inorder to avoid hemorrhages, disturbance of the bandages or dresslugs, oropening up of the wounds before the ilesh has properly united. Underconditions existing before my invention it has been consideredimpossible to avoid moving the person of the patient to a considerableextent preparatory and subsequent to a bowel movement or an'evacuatorymovement of the other organs. This is due to thefact that the patientmust be lifted by the legs and hips in order to permit the insertion andremoval of the ordinary bed pan or chamber for receiving theevacuations. similar difiiculty exists when it is desired to administeran enema or perform any other operation which requires access tothe'underside of the patient. There have been thousands of instances inwhich such unavoidable moving or shifting of the patient has resulted inthe loss of the patients life.

The principal objects of my invention are,

to provide an improved mattress so constructed that access to the underside of the patient resting thereon may be had at any time withoutdisturbing any part of the body or limbs of the patient; to provide amattress of the class described so organized as to furnish at all timesthe desired comfortable support for the body and limbs of the patient;to provide a mattress which shall be sanitary, that is, capable of beingcleaned, sterilized, or disinfected without serious trouble; to providea mattress so organized that the inconvenience to the patient and thelabor and trouble on the part of the attendants is reduced to a minimum;to provide a mattress of the class described which shall be simpl indesign, and economical to manufacture; and, in general, to provide animproved mattress of the character referred to.

Broadly. stated, my invention consists in the provision of arecess inthe mattress be- "neath the patient, access to said recess being givenby means of a conduit or passageway leading from the recess outwardly,and a filler for the recess which may be removed, collapsed, ordepressed when attending to the patient.

In the drawings which illustrate one application of my invention- Figure1 is a plan view of my improved mattress and associated parts;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the mattress supported on an ordinarybedstead and sup porting a patient who is being attended to Fig. 3 is aplan view of a sheet immediately beneath the patient; Fig. 4L is a planview of a canvas or waterproof cover for the top of the mattress; Y

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the. mattress with the flexible filleror cushion collapsed; and

c Fig. 6 is a sectionthrough a modified type} of mattress showing thenormal position of the flexible filler.

Referring to the drawings, 10 represents as a whole an ordinary ironbedstead equipped with the usual head and foot ends, side rails, andflexible 0r resilient spring upon which the mattress 11 is supported. Asshown in the figures, a recess 12 is made in the mattress immediatelybelow that portion of the patient to which access is desired, access tosaid recess being obtained by extending the opening outwardly to theedge of the mattress in the form of a conduit or passageway which thusconstitutes a lateral or transverse continuation or extension ofsaidrccess. y a

For sanitary reasons, the sides and inner end of the recess 12 are facedwith atroughshaped waterproof lining 13 which, for C011 venience, isbuttoned or secured to the body ofthe mattress by suitable means, suchas clasps 14. The recess and conduit are ordinarily filled to the levelof the top of the 1nattrcss by means of a flexible filler or cushion,such as the pneumatic pillow 15, on the top of which may be supported aremovable pad or cloth 16. The cloth or pad 16 may of course bewaterproof on its upper surface, or, if desired, the cloth may beremoved and replaced with a clean new one :whenever it becomes soiled.

17 represents a stout sheet made of canvas or waterproof material whichextends over the entire upper surface of the mattress and the recess,with the exception of a small area of the recess exposed by an aperture18 in the canvas. If desired, the canvas at the ends and sides of saidrecess 18 may be strengthened by means of stout bands or straps, as at19 and 20, of heavy webbing or similar material. The edges of the saidcanvas or rubber sheeting 17 are secured to themattress by means of buto s 21. sewed to themattress and cooperating with button holes formedin tabs of the sheet 17, as

shown at 22. The mattress itself is securely fastened to the filler rodsand corner posts of the bedstead by means of tapes or strings 23 inorder to preserve the shape of the mattress, and, if desired, the canvas17 may be tied to the bedstead by similarstrings 24. One of the objectsof the canvas 17 is to aid in the support of the temporarily unsupportedportion of the patient whenever the rubber cushion 15 is collapsed. Anordinary sheet 25 witha longitudinal aperture 26 may be spread over thecanvas sheet 17,-

' if desired.

The purpose and efiect of my improvement's will be apparent.

cess 12 is supported by the inflated air cushion 15. When it is desiredto place the bed pan under the patient, or to perform any othernecessary duty or operation involving access to the under side of thepatient, the

rubber cushion is deflated by opening the valve 27, thus allowin"without touching or moving the patient in the slightest degree, thepatient being meanjwhile supported by the sides of the recess and tosome extent by the canvas 17. When the needs of the patient have beenattended to, the cushion is re-infiated through the valve 27, thuscausing it to reassuine its normal function of supporting. the patient.

In Fig. 6'1 have indicated a particular form of mattress constructionwhich may be effectively employed invcarrying out my in- Ordinarily,that portion of the patient located over the reventionv Such mattress isconstructed of a series of transverse sections or rolls 29 sewedtogether along the middle plane of the mattress, which materiallyfacilitates the rolling up and removal of the mattress when occasionrequires. In applying my invention to such a mattress, I furnish thesectionswhich lie on the side of the recess 12 with a series of rows ofcoil springs 30 which assist materially in preventing undue depressionor collapsing of the said mattress sections, due to the extra. pressureimposed thereon when the rubber cushion 15 is deflated.

To those skilled in the art, it will oe patent that the describ eddctails of construction may be modified'considerably to suit individualrequirements", without any sacrifice of eiiiciency. The scope of theinvention must, therefore, be determined by referring to the appendedclaims.

I claim- 1. A mattress provided with a transverse slot of sufficientcross-sectional dimensions to admit a bed pan and extendin r frombeneath the occupant and outwar ly to and through the side of themattress, a portion of the inner end of said slot being open at the topto provide access to the under side of the patient, a depressible meansnormally filling that portion of the slot beneath the patient andnormally supporting said patient, and a thin inextensible flexiblemember extending across an outer portion of said slot for temporarilysupporting said patient in the absence of said collapsible means.

2. A hospital mattress provided with a transverse slot extendingvertically through the thickness of the mattress and wide" enough toadmita bed pan and extending from beneath the occupant outwardly to andthrough the side of the mattress, the inner end of said slot being openat the top to provide access to the under side of the patient,depressible means normally filling the slot and normally supporting saidpatient, and an inextensible flexible fabric secured to the mattressatopposite sides of said slot and extending over the outer portion thereoffor temporarily supporting the patient at the side of said opening inthe absence of saidcollapsible means,said depressible means when raisedserving to support that portion of the patient resting upon the fabric.

I SARAH L. GOSSARD.

